Paradise We have Yet to See
by Kiora Iwa
Summary: After getting a phone call, Barnaby must play babysitter to a sick and injured Kotetsu. The next few days will be quite interesting. Barnaby Brooks Jr. x Kotetsu T. Kaburagi.  M for future chapters
1. Chapter 1

Paradise We have Yet to See

Tiger & Bunny © Sunrise

Fanfiction © Anime-Twin27135 (Deviant Art) Kiora Iwa ()

**My****Notes**-Hi everyone! I'm user Kiora Iwa! I'm new to FanfFiction and trying to get used to the controls here...

Just to say, I recently found out about the Tiger & Bunny series and fell in love with it! So... I wanted to try my hand at fan fiction!

So I hope you enjoy my first fanfiction and feedback is welcome!-

**CH1**

_3 weeks after the battle with Maverick_

"**That stupid old man."**

Barnaby sighed as he flipped his phone shut. He had just gotten a call from Kotetsu saying that he needed help with the old wounds he had gotten from the H-01 Wild Tiger. Even though it had been just 3 weeks since Wild Tiger retired, Kotetsu just had to play "hero" one more time when a burglar snatched an elderly woman's purse near a plaza. Kotetsu did apprehend the burglar, but the man didn't go down without a fight. Apparently Tiger did not use his hero power and the burglar was able to land a few hard hits to his chest and shoulder. As a result, he ended up re-opening his cuts, bruised his healing burns, and re-injuring his bad shoulder. Then he decided after that to not go to the hospital; Kotetsu tried to remedy his injuries on his own. Now, the burn scabs and cuts were infected along with painful swelling and he could not move his shoulder very much. Barnaby was muttering under his breath as he was thinking back to what his partner had told him on the phone.

"He never thinks before he acts. Seriously, he's like a child... AND WHY DID I BECOME THE BABYSITTER?" With that, he took his frustration out on the road as he sped down the highway to get to Kotetsu's apartment.

_:Kotetsu's apartment:_

"Open the door old man! Don't tell me you dragged me out here for nothing!" 

Barnaby was now super pissed. Speeding down the highway to this apartment only took 30 minutes from the 1 hour ride back from where he was originally coming from and now he had been waiting outside Tiger's door for fifteen minutes. Barnaby scoffed and turned to leave when he heard a faint voice from door.

"Hold on, hold on... There in a sec..." It was Kotetsu alright... But he sounded a little different from the earlier phone call. He sounded... weak.. Like he had very little energy left in him. A few seconds later, a click from the lock and a slow turn of the knob, the door creaked open slowly to reveal a flushed faced Tiger, who was only wearing pants, leaning against the door frame.

"Hey there Bunny... Sorry it took me so long," said Kotetsu, smiling weakly.

Barnaby rolled his eyes and was about to say something when he spotted his partner's chest through the door. The reopened cuts and burn scabs were an angry red color, swollen, and his shoulder had a dark reddish-purple bruise coming from underneath the bandages wrapped around the area. He just stared in shock for a few seconds until he noticed the bandaged shoulder was sinking down. It only took him a split second to push through the door and catch Kotetsu before he fell to the ground. "Kotetsu!" Putting his left arm around his partner's body and closing the door with his right, Barnaby held the limp Tiger close to his body. Through his red leather jacket, he could feel that Kotetsu's body was burning up. Placing his forehead on the crook of Barnaby's neck, Kotetsu muttered, "You feel so nice, Bunny..."

Breathing a deep sigh, Barnaby put his free arm under Kotetsu's legs and carried him bridal-style to the couch. At that moment, he remembered the first time he met Wild Tiger before they became official partners. Wild Tiger's power ran out after the 5 minute mark and Barnaby came to the rescue and caught Tiger. That brought a soft smile to his face, but then a worried look ruined that smile. It was hard to see his partner in such a condition when he usually was the childish one. Making sure that Kotetsu was comfortable, Barnaby looked around the apartment until he found a thermometer and some alcohol pads in the bathroom and went back downstairs. Taking an alcohol pad and dis-infecting the thermometer, he stuck it gently in Kotetsu's mouth and waited a few seconds until it beeped. Taking it out as gently, he saw that the temperature was 102 degrees. Shaking his head, he dis-infected it again and placed it on the coffee table.

"Kotetsu, do you know that you are running a 102 degree fever? And not only that, your wounds are infected? You need to go to the hospital now."

Barnaby was reaching in his pocket for his phone when Kotetsu grabbed his arm and tried to pull himself up. This was so sudden that Barnaby stumbled to one knee and his face was very close to Kotetsu's. That pained look on his face... He knew what his partner was going to say.

"Please... I don't need to go to the hospital... It's just a little thing I just need to get over..."

Kotetsu smiled weakly as he tried to make a joke.

"Besides, that kind elderly nurse told me not to come back to the hospital or she'd tan my hide."

He laughed a little which turned into a small fit of coughs. Laughing has caused his chest to hurt and that made Barnaby have a pained look. He didn't like this at all. If this kept up, Kotetsu would get worse. He needed a hospital right away... But the sincere look in his partner's eyes kept him from trying to persuade him otherwise. He closed his eyes in frustration not knowing what to do.

"Please... Barnaby..."

The use of his real name made Barnaby open his eyes and look at Kotetsu. This was serious if Kotetsu didn't use "Bunny." Sighing, he gave a surrender filled shrug and gently pushed the older man back. Getting back to his feet, Barnaby walked over to a corner and called the hospital to send a doctor over to the apartment. After explaining the situation and with some successful persuasion and flirting with the nurse at the other end of the phone, the doctor was going to get to the apartment in about 15 minutes. Satisfied, he flipped his phone shut and walked past the confused Kotetsu to go upstairs and grab a spare blanket from the bedroom. It was a very simple and clean designed room and Barnaby was interested in looking around, but at the moment that was not important. After searching through the drawers, he found what he was looking for, closed everything, and walked back downstairs to a curious Tiger. Flipping the blanket and covering Kotetsu, Barnaby smiled, tucked him in, and said, "No worries now old man. I just called the hospital and pulled a favor with one of the lady doctor to come over and check you out. So you won't be going there..."

After check to see that everything was in order, Barnaby was heading to the kitchen to boil some hot water to make tea. As he went in, Kotetsu peeked over the couch to say, " Thanks Bunny... I-I'm sorry I had to trouble you with this." 'Bunny' smiled and waved his hand, saying,

"Don't worry about it. That's what partners are for."

_10-15 Minutes later_

The doorbell rang just as the kettle was whistling. If it wasn't for Kotetsu yelling, "Oi! … Bunny-chan!" Barnaby would have never known it rang. Quickly turning off the kettle, he rushed to the door and opened it to see Dr. Ruki Hath. She was actually an old high school upper classmate he had not seen for many years. She was a hugger and the moment she saw Barnaby, she gave him a great big hug. He went a little stiff, but remembered that this was just how his classmate was and gave in to hug her back.

Kotetsu on the other hand was a little curious and jealous at the same time as he strained his neck to see what was going on. Even though he had seen Barnaby smile, this was the most genuine smile he had seen his partner give ever. He wondered what relation this woman had with his Bunny. But the moment he had thought "his Bunny," he scrunched his eyebrows and shook his head. His Bunny? Barnaby was not a possession, nor did he believe he was. Also.. Why was he feeling suddenly jealous of this doctor? Shaking his head again, he laid his head back down on the pillow and just rubbed his face with his hand. He concluded that this was the fever's effect on him and that once it was gone, he'd be fine. And he was glad he finished that thought because the doctor was walking over to him to check to see what was going on.

As Dr. Hath was checking up on Kotetsu, Barnaby was back in the kitchen steeping tea. She has said green tea would be fine and luckily Kotetsu did have some in his cabinets. There was enough for three, so he poured the tea into three miss-matched cups and head out to the living room where Dr. Hath was laughing and Kotetsu looking sheepish. Barnaby tilted his head to the side wondering what was going on when the doctor cleared her throat, and snorted a little.

"Your **little**Tiger is going to be fine. The wounds, although swollen and infected, are a healthy color so you don't need to worry... But you need to make sure he doesn't put foot cream on cuts anymore and needs to clean them properly..."

"Foot cream?" asked Barnaby. The doctor held up the little white and pink squeeze container that had the logo of a paw print with wings and halo. He wasn't getting it until he realized that Kotetsu had confused foot cream with Neosporin, the antibacterial healing cream. Suddenly, everything made so much more sense now. At this point it should have not come as a surprise that Kotetsu would do this... He was just that kind of guy. Rolling his eyes and trying to hide his smirk, he placed the tray of cups on the table and offered a cup to the doctor and the "little Tiger" before taking his own and sipping the bitter, but delicious tea. After that hilarity, Dr. Hath showed Barnaby how to treat the wounds and change the bandages and also how to deal with Kotetsu's bad shoulder. She had recommended that each night Kotetsu should have a hot water bottle on his bad shoulder to help with the muscle pain and also some slow, but steady arm stretches to keep the muscles use to some motion. She was also kind enough to leave some of her supplies with them since she always carried extra first aid kits in her large purse. Last, she gave fever pills to Barnaby and said they needed to be take twice a day until the fever was gone and that he need to eat clean like clear broths and porridge and that he should have a nice hot bath either tonight or tomorrow. With everything done, she talked with Barnaby for a bit about old times and her current life happenings before hugging her classmate, waving to Kotetsu, and left.

With the door closed, Barnaby turned back to the living room to find that Kotetsu had fallen asleep, snoring loudly. He guessed that today's events probably wore him out. Looking at the digital clock, it was only 5 PM. It looked like Barnaby was going to have to spend a night or two taking care of the old man. He sat carefully near Kotetsu and observed his sleeping friend. With the blanket covering him up to his neck, it would have looked like Kotetsu had nothing wrong with him. And strangely enough, when Barnaby looked up to his partner's face, he could not help but laugh a little. Kotetsu's face kept scrunching up and making weird sleeping expressions because one of his longer bangs was irritating his nose. He definitely was a child. Smiling, he reached over with his left hand to move the bangs back when Kotetsu leaned his cheek against his palm and began to nuzzle it. It was something like what a big cat would do if he wanted a head rub. This was... Really cute actually. Barnaby couldn't take his eyes off this scene... It was... It was just too cute. But when he looked at the clock, it was 5:15. He needed to get home to grab some clothes, his toothbrush, and other stuff he needed for the next few days. As he was about to get up, Kotetsu's lips pressed against his palm. "Tomoe..." Barnaby froze mid-way waiting to see if anything else happened. But his partner just turned the other way and began to snore again. Getting up quickly, he grabbed his keys and the apartment key and went to the door. As he reached the knob, he stopped one more time to look back at Kotetsu before opening and closing the door.

But he didn't immediately leave. Barnaby leaned against the door and let out a deep breath. What was going on? He had enjoyed the moment until Kotetsu said his wife's name. And it bothered Barnaby that this bothered him. Why was he feeling a little jealous over Tomoe, his partner's deceased wife? And why did he enjoy Kotetesu's nuzzling? He looked down to his left palm and closed it. The warmth he felt from Kotetsu was still there but starting to fade. And to add on to his conflict, he had liked the feeling of that warmth and wanted more of it. Gripping his hand tight, he pushed the thought back and moved from the wall to head to the parking lot. This was going to be a long few days.


	2. Chapter 2

**Paradise We have Yet to See **

Ch .2

_Barnaby Brooks Jr. x Kotetsu T. Kaburagi_

Tiger & Bunny © Sunrise

Fan fiction © Anime-Twin27135 (Deviant Art) Kiora Iwa ()

Editing by LunarInsaNIty (DeviantArt) & Anime-Twin27135 (Deviant Art) Kiora Iwa ()

**My notes: **You know what's funny? I have so many personal art projects I'm working on... And I totally neglected them to write this fan fiction... I'm such a bad artist. But I do feel that having the break from drawing felt good. Anyway, this chapter was REALLY REALLY hard to work on since I kept having multiple ideas to add to this chapter... Also I did not want to put stupid things into the storyline... Please forgive me! Also please forgive me for my terrible writing... And I thank LunarInsaNIty for reading through and helping me catch my terrible grammar mistakes. You are my editing savior!

Well then. Back to business and I present Chapter 2! I hope you enjoy and feedback is appreciated!-

It only took Barnaby 10 minutes with his superior driving skills to get back to his apartment to pack for the upcoming days with Kotetsu. Placing his keys on his table, he pressed a few buttons on his computer to see if there were any missed messages before he left to go to his room. There were two. The first one was from Agnes, the producer of Hero TV.

"Bonjour Barnaby! I'm calling to remind you that Monday you have an interview with me at 11 AM at the studio. It will be about your "retirement". Alright, I'll see you later. Adieu!"

The second message was from Nathan Seymour aka Fire Emblem. Barnaby was a little confused about why he would call him until he heard the message.

"Hello Handsome! I hope you are doing well... I'm so lonely without you! Well, and the occasional Tiger. But that's not important. Remember, we have the **Shiseido **VIP party to attend next Monday at 7 PM with the other heroes! Oh, I just can't wait to see what you will be wearing! Ok, love you! MUWAH!"

Barnaby covered his face with his hands and gave a little frustrated sigh. Thanks to Kotetsu, he had forgotten about the events he had to go to in the next coming days and week. The interview was about why Barnaby retired and more about the Maverick incident. Since the day the incident happened until now, he had been avoiding interviews about it. But Mr. Lloyds said that it was better to do it now than later; and postponing it would hurt his popularity. As for the **Shiseido** VIP Party, even though he retired, Barnaby had endorsed the company's products while he was still a hero and the CEO personally invited him. So that made it more important for him to go. This event was usually a quick and easy thing to do. All he had to do was show up with the other heroes, flirt and look pretty, and mingle with people. As for the calls, it was a good thing Barnaby did not catch Nathan's call. Currently, they were in an awkward stage with each other.

_One week ago_

After a day at the gym, Nathan had forgotten his pair of star earrings in his locker and called every hero to see if any of them were willing to bring it over to his house. Unfortunately, everyone else had already left the gym except Barnaby. Seeing no harm he went into Nathan's locker, got the earrings, and went over Nathan's house about two hours later since he had an interview to go. When he reached his fellow hero's house, the door was already unlocked, so Barnaby figured Nathan knew he was coming. When he opened the door and went in the living room, the quote, "_What has been __seen can't be unseen__,_" came to his mind. There was a very muscular and **very** naked man with red, medium-length hair sitting on the sofa with naked Nathan moaning and riding on top of him. Nathan, who had fiery passion as a hero also, had this passion in bed because they two seemed to be having very deep connection in their intercourse. Continuing to look at the scene, in comparison to his lover, Nathan looked like a stick because he was that slim, yet toned build. Also, the lover had a very impressive erection and Barnaby wondered how the hell Nathan was not split in half by the man's hard thrusting. It was only but a minute when his friend's lover spotted Barnaby and paused in his love-making. Nathan whimpered at the man but then looked back at the direction his lover was looking at. Barnaby looked surprised for a second and then coughed and looked away like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. This look received a laugh and Nathan just licked his lips.

"Why hello Handsome... Did you bring my earrings?"

All Barnaby could do was nod. He did not want to say anything to make a fool of himself. He already got himself caught in this situation and did not want to make it worse. Nathan just smiled coyly.

"Just leave them on the table and make sure the door is locked on your way out... Unless you would like to join us?"

Barnaby just shook his head, placed the earrings on the table, and quickly walked out. All he could hear was Nathan's laughter and moans as he made sure the door was locked behind him before he got out of the house.

_Back to present day_

Even though a week had past, Barnaby still couldn't look at Nathan without thinking about that day. It was just that awkward. And to make things worse, every time he saw Nathan, the man would lick his lips at him just to remind Barnaby what happened. It was just his luck that he would catch Nathan having sex with another man and that seeing a man having sex with another man... Sort of turned him on. Also, it made for very interesting dreams. Barnaby did have his share of sex with the ladies during and after high school. But after getting into the hero business and being busy with investigating Ouroboros, he did not have the time to think of something like that. But having sex with men? He had not thought of it until he saw Nathan and his lover. It was different and intriguing... But he wanted to have a suitable participant with him if he ever tried it out... But why was he thinking about that now? Shaking his head, Barnaby shook his thoughts away. He needed to get back to packing. Luckily, since it was Wednesday, he had about almost a week before the interview and party, so hopefully Kotetsu would be better before then.

Back to packing, he opened his drawers and pulled just enough clothes to last him about 3-4 days. That also included a pair of swim trunks. If he had to help his partner take a bath or a shower, he would rather not be naked. After that, he grabbed his toothbrush, forwarded his home calls to his cell, and walked out his apartment. Barnaby hoped that within the 3-4 days, Kotetsu will get better and that he wouldn't need to stay any longer than that.

_Kotetsu's Apartment_

Checking his watch as he got into Kotetsu's apartment, it was about 7:05 PM. Walking over to the sofa, his partner was there, still asleep, and rolled up in the blanket like a caterpillar in a cocoon. It was so amusing that Barnaby flipped open his phone and took a picture. This would make great call image for Kotetsu instead of a phone icon that came up every time he called. Getting back to business, Barnaby had a feeling that Kotetsu did not eaten all day and taking a closer look, he did look a little thin. Placing his stuff on the floor near the coffee table and his leather jacket on the sofa, he walked into the kitchen and began to forage through every compartment. After a thorough search, he found already cooked rice, soy sauce, scallions and some chicken broth. Remembering back to what Dr. Hath had said; rice porridge was simple to make with some rice, water or broth. And cooking did not seem to be too hard since Barnaby did watch some cooking shows when he was bored at his apartment.

Since he had the ingredients, Barnaby needed equipment to cook the porridge in. Looking through the cabinets, he found a medium-sized pot and a measuring cup. Placing the pot on the stove he turned the gas knob, waited for the click, the flame, and the pot was now heating. After that, he measured out the chicken broth and cooked rice and put them all in the pot to simmer. Last, was to add the scallions to the mixture. After washing them, he picked up a cutting board and a medium sized knife that was near the sink. Looking over the knife, he saw that there was some wear to it. Barnaby guessed that Kotetsu was a kitchen regular. He must have had lots of practice with cooking... Too bad he was sick. Barnaby would have loved some advice in cutting food. Taking a deep breath, he began to cut.

While Barnaby was busy in the kitchen, Kotetsu was tossing and turning in his sleep. His dreams were clouded with darkness and painful illusions. For the past few days, he had been having nightmares, but they were fleeting. But just today, possibly as a result of the fever, they were coming at him full throttle. In every dream, it started with Kotetsu walking through the absolute darkness in his Wild Tiger suit. Random figures appeared and disappeared before he could react. Suddenly, a chilling voice came from the darkness.

"_The voice of Thanatos shall release you from your dark curse, sinful one."_

Kotetsu was face to face with Lunatic. For a moment, the two just stared at each other when he heard a scream of pain. Whipping around, he saw the H-01 Wild Tiger on top of an armored Barnaby.

"Bunny!"

His partner was trying to push the android's leg off his armored chest, but the H-01 was too strong. Barnaby turned to Kotetsu, his face full of pain.

"Run Kotetsu! Get out of here!"

Before he could say anything else, the H-01 stomped on Barnaby's chest again, causing him to spit out blood. Kotetsu was furious. No one was to harm his partner, not his Bunny. He ran towards the android when Lunatic blocked him.

"Get out of the way! I don't want to fight you!"

Lunatic gave no response. With flick of his arm, the vigilante shot Kotetsu with a flaming arrow in his bad shoulder, shattering whatever armor was on that area. He grunted in pain, but ignored it. His partner was in trouble and he need to help him. Looking up, he saw Lunatic reload his crossbow and aim at him again. But this time, there were three arrows in one shot. The first had his him on the right leg, the second on his chest, and the third in his back. Every place the arrow hit, the armor shattered, leaving open spaces of the skin tight body suit. Kotetsu had enough. A deep snarl poured out from his lips as he charged and swiped at the man in front of him. As if he had hit him with claws, Lunatic screamed in pain as deep scratch marks ripped through his body and erupted into flames. But Kotetsu did not stop, he ran straight for the H-01. But he was too late. The android had shot Barnaby in the chest with his laser gun, causing a gaping hole where his heart should have been. With the last of his strength, Barnaby reached out to his partner, calling out his name. "Ko...tetsu..."

All Kotetsu saw now was red. Nothing mattered to him anymore. His partner was dead and destroying the H-01 was his top priority. He flew at the android, aiming a barrage of punches and kicks at it, but none of the attacks seemed to hit it. With little effort, the H-01 dodged the attacks and grabbed Kotetsu's throat, slamming him into a solid wall of darkness. Kotetsu tried to pull its hand from his throat but it did not work. The android was too powerful. Now he began to choke under the hand's pressure and as a last ditch effort, he aimed a kick at the H-01's face. It took off the mask, but what was underneath the mask shocked him. It was another Kotetsu with red eyes in the red Wild Tiger armor. "He" just grinned and closed his hand tighter around the real Kotetsu's throat as sparks flew into the air.

"Goodbye, old man," said the H-01 as it shot out its sword.

The burning sword shot into his chest and then pain erupted from area as the blade sunk in. It seemed the darkness was taking over when a cursing Bunny woke him up.

"OWW! FUCK! God damn metal spoon!"

Kotetsu's eyes sprang open at the sound of Barnaby's cursing. Not realizing it, he had a vice-grip on his blanket and was panting like he just ran a marathon. Looking around, he saw that he was in living room and no longer in the darkness. It took him a second to remember that he was here, at his apartment sick with fever and that Barnaby was over to help take care of him. On the topic of his partner, he did not see him in the living room. So he reached over the sofa, and pulled himself up to a sitting position to have a better view of the area. During the process, he knocked over Barnaby's jacket and it landed with a thud on the ground. Barnaby's cell phone must have been in the pocket to make such a loud sound. Kotetsu flinched at the thud and slowly looked over the sofa top to see Barnaby's head sticking out of the kitchen doorway.

"Hey. Sorry. Did I wake you?

"Nah, not really. I should be getting up anyway. Too much sleeping is not good for an old man."

Barnaby just gave a chuckle.

"Well just make sure you don't fall back to sleep. I'm almost done with the porridge."

And with that Barnaby went back into the kitchen. Kotetsu just smiled as he leaned back on the sofa. Before closing his eyes he said, "Just make sure you don't burn down my kitchen, Bunny."

"Shut up, old man."

Barnaby had to smile. Even though Kotetsu was sick, he could still make anyone smile, including him. With one final stir to the pot, he took a spoon out to taste the porridge. It was a little saltier than he had liked, but for his first attempt at cooking, he felt that this was a satisfactory porridge. If only his throbbing fingers would agree to that. Looking down at his hands, three fingers from his left hand were cut from the knife he used to cut scallions. On his right, the middle of his hand was burned from the metal spoon he left in the heating pot. Both hands were bandaged and just looked absolutely ridiculous with the **Hello Kitty** bandages Kotetsu had in his first aid kit. But then he realized that this choice of band aides probably had something to do with Kaede, his partner's daughter. Overall, he felt that the pain was well worth it to help Kotetsu get better. Before he left the kitchen, he turned off the stove, filled two bowls of porridge, and grabbed some spoons. Barnaby might as well have some, he did make it after all and there was enough to last a few days.

Out into the living room, he carefully looked over the sofa to see Kotetsu, sitting up with his eyes closed. He was about to say something when Kotetsu opened his eyes. Walking around, he placed the bowls and spoons on the coffee table before sitting next to his partner and asked,

"How are you feeling?"

Kotetsu just shrugged and replied, "I don't know really... I can't tell if I'm getting better."

Reaching over with his right hand, Barnaby felt for a temperature, but the bandages were blocking parts of his hands.

"This way might be better. Let's see now..."

He did not bother with the left, so he placed his hand behind Kotetsu's head and placed his own forehead against his partner's and closed his eyes to feel the temperature.

Kotetsu was startled at this sudden move and blushed a little. Barnaby's face was so close to his that he saw every strand of his partner's eyelashes. Usually his partner never got this close to him or anyone else for the matter. He flinched a little, causing Barnaby to move back and open his eyes. Kotetsu must have look surprised because Barnaby said, raising his free hand near his face, "I can't feel the temperature with all the band-aids covering my fingers, so I have to do that. Stop being a baby."

After saying that, Barnaby pressed their foreheads together again. This time Kotetsu did not fight it. He saw that his partner had a point. Bandages really did make checking temperatures a little harder. Closing his eyes, he began to feel the warmth coming from Barnaby's forehead and it felt really good. But it left as quickly as it came. Opening his eyes, he saw that Barnaby had moved to reach for the thermometer. He guessed that his partner could not figure if the temperature changed so he just sat there, waiting for the thermometer to be disinfected and stuck in his mouth. Seconds later, it beeped and it still read 102 degrees.

Kotetsu began to sulk a little. He had thought that a little sleep would lower it a little. But that did not seem to work. But of course, he did not have the energy to fight it because he had not eaten for a few days. And at that moment, his stomach gave a deep growl. Kotetsu was now just plain embarrassed and angry at his stomach. He looked down, giving it a face as if to say, "I am very displeased." When he looked up, Barnaby was holding a bowl of porridge in his lap with the spoon in his right hand, holding it in front of Kotetsu's mouth.

"Open and eat. No food means no energy which means you won't get better unless you eat."

Kotetsu just huffed and eyed the spoon. Since he knew that Barnaby had never cooked a day in his life until today, Kotetsu was a little hesitant of the porridge. Carefully he took a bite of the porridge from the spoon and chewed it slowly. He raised his eyebrows in surprise; the porridge was actually really good but had a little too much salt in it. The flavor of the chicken broth did add a nice contrast to the rice and the cut scallions gave it texture and flavor as well. Swallowing, he gave a nod of approval.

"You made this by yourself? This is really good... But don't use as much salt."

Barnaby gave a sigh of relief. He was glad that Kotetsu approved of his first time cooking and that he did not mess up such a simple dish. In reply, he just nodded and continued to spoon-feed his partner in silence. In about five minutes into the feeding, Kotetsu could not stand the quiet any longer, so he asked as he took a bite of porridge,

"So... That doctor who came in, someone you know? "

Barnaby put the spoon back in the bowl before speaking.

"First, don't talk with your mouth full. Second, yes. Ruki Hath was an upperclassman in the high school I went to."

He kept feeding Kotetsu as he spoke.

"When I first met her, she was my English tutor. I absolutely did not like her because I think she had a little brother complex when she first saw me. She always babied me... Calling me "Barnie", always trying to feed me because I looked too "skinny", constantly hugging me and fussing over me. I think she had a big sister complex, and I ended up being the "little" sibling in this case. I tried every means to stay away from her like hiding on the roof top, in the gym lockers, etc. But she never gave up on trying to find me."

Then he just placed the spoon in the bowl, looking to the side as he recalled a memory.

"But one day, one of the gangs at school bullied me on the roof tops, making fun of me for being "pretty" and stealing attention from their girls. They threw some punches and were throwing garbage at me when Ruki came up. She saw what they were doing and started spraying them with the fire hose and stacked smacking them around with a broom."

He gave a smile as he remembered the event.

"After they ran with their tails between their legs, Ruki took a handkerchief from her pocket and began to wipe the water and grime off, smiling and asking if I was alright. Ever since, I've always been close to her until she graduated and we lost contact. The last I heard about her was that she went to university to be a doctor."

Kotetsu gave a nod but then opened his mouth, signaling he wanted more. Barnaby quickly apologized and continued to feed him.

"Oh sorry. Here... Where was I? Oh yeah. Remember that time when we all battled Jake? Ruki was the doctor tending our sector at the hospital and I was totally surprised to see her. But we weren't able to talk after that until today."

Seeing that Barnaby was all smiles, Kotetsu got a little irritated. From what he heard, Barnaby really seemed to have a good connection with this person and seeing her had made him the happiest he had seen in ages. But maybe she might be a good person for Barnaby to be with. He did seem happiest right now after seeing her. Swallowing, he said,

"She seems to be a very nice woman. Rich, smart, and very pretty. Ever want to try to get past that big sister complex and try to date her?"

Barnaby raised an eyebrow. Where did that question come from? Why did that come up? He just shook his head as he helped Kotetsu finish the bowl. "Why do you ask so suddenly?"

Kotetsu just shrugged. "You two seem to hit it off very well. I thought that she might be a good person for you to be with... You know... Like a girlfriend? You're at the age where maybe settling down might be good for you. Especially since you're retired now."

Barnaby shook his head. "That not possible. One, she's married and has twin boys. Two, I just said she was like a big sister to me. And three, currently, I'm not interested in anyone... You could say that I'm still looking for the right person."

When Kotetsu heard that last part, it made him think back to when he was younger. He had said the exact same thing in high school when someone asked if he was dating back then. And for him, the right person he had been looking was Tomoe. In reply, he said, "Ah... Well I know you'll find that person. Just don't grow too old before that happens."

Barnaby just rolled his eyes and set the empty bowl on the table before picking up his own bowl of porridge. He knew that he'd find someone; it was just a matter of time. But now all he could think about was eating because he was starving. When he was about to take a bite of the porridge, he noticed there was a lone grain of rice stuck on Kotetsu's lip. Without thinking, Barnaby reached over and rubbed his thumb gently over his partner's lip to catch the grain and then licked it off his finger before going back to his bowl. Kotetsu was a little taken aback and blushed again. This was getting stranger and stranger by the minute. First Barnaby got up close and personal to feel for fever, and now he rubbed his lip to catch grain of rice and ate it. This was getting too much for poor Kotetsu.

"Wh-Wh-Why did you do that?"

"What? What do you mean why? My mother used to do it all the time to me... 'Waste not,' was what she told me when I had food on my face like that."

"Hrmm," was all Kotetsu said in reply. After that, there was silence again between the two except for the occasional clink of the spoon against the bowl as Barnaby ate. When he was done, Barnaby took the bowls and spoons and headed to the kitchen. Looking at the clock, it was about 9 PM. He had to clean up the kitchen, make the hot water bottle for Kotetsu's arm and then get him ready for bed. So first he packed the leftover porridge into the refrigerator. Then he took all the dirty utensils, stuck it into the empty pot and placed them all in the sink. After washing and drying everything, he placed them back in their proper place, and went back into the living to look for the rubber water bottle Dr. Hath left for him. He had thought Kotetsu would have fallen asleep again, but instead, he saw him watching **Hero TV **very intently. The latest episode showed the other heroes chasing after a speeding get-away car.

So far, Fire Emblem was catching up to the car. Barnaby just ignored the show and headed back to the kitchen. For the hot water, he filled a one quart microwavable container with water and put it in the microwave for at 2 minutes. After the seconds passed and the microwave beeped, Barnaby carefully filled the rubber bottle with the steaming water, closed it, and went out of the kitchen. There, he saw that the show had ended very quickly because Blue Rose had been able to freeze the car in its tracks along with the suspect. He couldn't help but be impressed with her. Ever since Kotetsu left, Karina aka Blue Rose had promised to work as hard as Wild Tiger and she was keeping that promise. She already went up a slot in a short period of time.

Looking back at Kotetsu, he saw that he definitely missed being a hero. The yearning look in his eyes, wanting to help people, it was all apparent in his body language. But because of his declining powers, that did not seem to be an option. Right now, he just looked tired and definitely seemed older than he was supposed to be. Barnaby's emerald eyes gleamed with great concern. Kotetsu's well being and happiness were top priority to any else in his life. And seeing him unhappy was making him feel useless. Letting out a breath, he came from behind the sofa and gently took the remote away from Kotetsu.

"Come on, Kotetsu. You should be getting to sleep soon... The more you sleep, the less tired you'll be."

He clicked the television closed and carefully placed the hot rubber water bottle over his partner's injured shoulder. Kotetsu hissed at the pain the added weight gave his shoulder, but it went away as the heat was taking effect on the muscles. Walking around the sofa, Barnaby placed the remote on the coffee table before pushing Kotetsu back into a laying position. Then he pulled the blanket over to cover him and gave his good shoulder a pat. Then he went through his bag to get out a bottle of water, opened it and then reached into the first aide bag for a **Tylenol **fever pill. Kneeling next to the sofa, he feed Kotetsu the pill and carefully gave him water to drink, making sure none spilled over. Once that was done, he placed the water on the coffee table. Finally, Barnaby moved the hot water bottle again to make it more comfortable on Kotetsu's shoulder since he was laying down and just sat on the single couch nearby for a bit. Again silence came between the two before Barnaby broke it and looked at Kotetsu, asking, "You miss it a lot, don't you? Being a hero, I mean."

Kotetsu turned his head to look at his partner. Did he really miss being a hero? Without a doubt he did. He missed helping the people, like the elderly women in the plaza who got her purse stolen. Then again, his powers were diminishing and he was starting to feel useless. But most importantly, besides helping the people, he did miss fighting alongside his partner, who was sitting in front of him. Placing his hand on the bottle, he replied,

"I do... I miss helping others. I miss being out there with the others... And I miss being out there with you, Bunny."

Kotetsu's amber eyes bore into Barnaby's emerald ones; the sincerity in them made Barnaby feel extremely happy to hear what his partner had to say. Getting up, he gently placed his hand on top of Kotetsu's and gave it a squeeze.

"I know you do... And I've missed being with you too... Now excuse me while I take over your bed upstairs."

Barnaby moved his hand away and went over the opposite wall and flipped the light switch off. All but the dim night lights in the room turned off. With a smile, Kotetsu looked away and closed his eyes. Inside, he was glad Barnaby was here. Even though he always seemed relaxed and smiling, he was very lonely on the inside. And seeing his partner here made everything seem much better. Seeing in the dim light that Barnaby came back near the sofa to get his nightwear, cell, phone, and toothbrush, he had time to say,

"Good night, Bunny...And... Thanks for doing this for me."

With a smile, Barnaby said, "Anything for you Kotetsu," as he went upstairs. After going into the bathroom to change and wash, he went back into the simple bedroom. Walking to the bed, Barnaby noticed that the mattress was about a queen size and he knew what part of the bed his partner slept in because the way the comforter was thrown. Also on the right side of the mattress, the bed was more sunken in with many years of use. The left side though, was untouched and seemed to be missing something... Like a companion imprint next to the right side... It must have been lonely all these years for Kotetsu to be sleeping alone in this big bed, especially since his wife passed away years ago... The loneliness must have been painful to bear, especially just by himself... Not wanting to disturb his partner's side, Barnaby took the left side of the mattress and laid down on the semi-firm surface. He placed his glasses on the night stand and wrapped the comforter around himself, breathing in a faint, familiar scent. It smelled like one of the aromatics that Barnaby used to use in his apartment. Sniffing again, it smelled faintly of sandalwood. He would use this exotic scent to clear his head and relax when he got stressed on some days. Barnaby figured it was a soap Kotetsu had gotten in an aroma bath store like **Bath and Body Works.** It was strange though. He could not recall smelling sandalwood on his partner before. But now he knew.

"He... smells good..."

Pulling the covers closer to his body, Barnaby began to relax as he breathed in his partner's scent. As he fell asleep, he mumbled softly,

"Get well, Kotetsu..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Paradise We have Yet to See**

Ch. 3

_Barnaby__Brooks__Jr.__x__Kotetsu__T.__Kaburagi_

Tiger & Bunny © Sunrise

Fan fiction © Anime-Twin27135 (Deviant Art) Kiora Iwa (fanfiction)

Editing by Anime-Twin27135 (Deviant Art) Kiora Iwa (fanfiction)

**My**** notes:**Hey all! Sorry it has been taking me so long to bring out Ch. 3. Please forgive me!  
>If some of you have been following me on Deviantart, I mention in a journal that I've been busy with getting my personal art projects done, busy with work, and family time... Also this chapter was much hard than the rest of the chapters because I kept re-working on ideas here. I was wrecking my mind out at work for the past few weeks trying to figure out how to make the story flow and what ideas would be of interest to you and me. XD It was fun trying to write this out at work. Oh my brain, it's so fried over this chapter.<p>

Of course I'm already forming different ideas for Ch. 4. I think there will be many fun things there. But I'll probably give myself a break from writing for a bit to work on more art... XD

Well I hope you all enjoy this chapter! And again, feedback is appreciated! Love you guys!

At 7 AM Thursday morning, Barnaby's cell alarm went off, jolting him awake. He absolutely forgot that he had set the alarm early so he could go check on Kotetsu. He was kicking himself for that right now. Groaning, he felt for the phone on the night stand and flipped it open to turn it off, and dropped it back on the stand. After a few minutes, he gave a yawn before he sat up and put on his glasses. Looking around, everything seemed normal except it felt a little chilly in Kotetsu's room. All he wore to bed was a black short sleeve with loose pajama pants, so he tossed the blanket aside, got up, and looked through the closet until he found a sweat jacket and put it on. The jacket was a little big but it was warm nonetheless. After that, Barnaby went into the bathroom to use the toilet, wash his face, and gargle before he headed down the stairs.

When he got into the living room, before him was a very strange scene. The blanket that covered his partner was on the floor and Kotetsu was sweating in the chilly room. Walking closer, it looked like he was having quite a dream. Kotetsu was moaning and twitching and it did not seem to be pleasant. Whatever he was dreaming about, he needed to get up. Barnaby grabbed his partner's shoulders and gently shook him. Kotetsu woke up with a start, panting and looked around to see that he was in the living room again with Barnaby looking down at him.

"Are you alright old man?"

The 'old man' just nodded. Grabbing his good arm, Barnaby helped Kotetsu sit up as he reached over for the thermometer. Disinfecting it, he stuck it into his partner's mouth and took it out after it beeped. The thermometer read 101.1. It was still a little higher than what Barnaby had wanted it to be, but at least it was lower than yesterday's temperature. After cleaning the little mouthpiece, he went into the kitchen to fill two cup of water and brought it out, handing one to Kotetsu.

"Drink," said Barnaby. "You need fluids in your body after sweating so much,"

They both drank in silence before Barnaby prodded Kotetsu about his dream.

"Were you having a nightmare? You were twitching and moaning like crazy."

Kotetsu just looked down at his cup saying,

"Yeah... And this isn't the first time I've had these dreams..."

Barnaby just nodded for him to continue.

"It's been two weeks since I've had these horrible dreams... The suspects we fought were beating the crap out of us. But when the fever hit... They got worse... They began to kill everyone... Antonio, Karina, Ivan, everyone..."

Kotetsu just looked straight up at Barnaby as he said,

"And you... You were always killed the most brutally... And then finally they got me. The kill shot was always at my heart..."

He gripped at his chest as if he felt pain there and gave a bitter laugh.

"It's so funny... I thought since I retired, I'd have dreams of Kaede and me running through fields or of me in a bunny suit, I don't know... But this is becoming too much for me... Seeing everyone die... Seeing you die... I can't take it anymore."

Barnaby felt a part of him go out to his partner. He had no idea that Kotetsu was suffering since he retired. This, though, was part of Kotetsu's fault since he did not tell anyone about his problems. But Barnaby was glad that his partner was starting to open up to him. If Kotetsu had not called him yesterday, who knows what would have happened to him. Walking over, he reached over the sofa arm and wrapped his arms around Kotetsu from behind, being careful of the bad shoulder, and began petting his head in a soothing manner. Kotetsu flinched for a moment, but then sank into the hug, resting back against his partner's shoulder. The hug was warm, and what Barnaby was doing was calming him down.

"There there... 'Bunny' is here to make everything better."

Kotetsu made an adorable pout face when he heard that.

"I'm not a child, you know. And I thought you hated the name Bunny?"

Barnaby smiled and just held him, replying,

"There are times when I can take it... And remember, you don't need deal with this alone... You helped me out with my problems. Now let me help you with yours."

Kotetsu just gave a nod. After some time passed, Barnaby's back began to become sore from the weird hugging position and gave a final pat before letting go, stretching his back, and motioning to the stairs.

"Come on. Let's get you cleaned up before breakfast."

Kotetsu gave a small groan in protest when his partner's arms left him. He had just started to become comfortable. Stretching his good arm as he got up, he slowly made his way upstairs. Barnaby quickly reached into his bag for a change of clothes and underwear before following his partner up to the second floor. When he got there, Kotetsu was already behind the inner bathroom door using the toilet, so he walked into the bedroom to change out of his pajamas and Kotetsu's jacket before putting on his swim shorts. Even though he was going to help his partner shower, it was still a little awkward for the two of them to be naked together. After the shorts were on, he walked back in the main bathroom shower area, opened the glass door and went it. It was a large shower, enough to fit at least 3-4 people. Turning the shower faucets, he made sure that the water was a comfortable hot temperature and walked out when he heard Kotetsu flush, wash his hands, and open the door.

"Wow, you changed pretty quickly."

Barnaby just shrugged.

"Hurry up old man. The quicker you undress and shower, the faster we both get breakfast. It's already..." He checked hallway clock. "It's already 8 AM and I'm starving."

"Fine, fine."

Barnaby turned his back on Kotetsu to give him some privacy. Surprisingly, he was able to get everything off with just his left arm. But there were still the bandages to deal with. Looking through the drawers, Kotetsu found a pair of scissors and handed them to Barnaby. Carefully, Barnaby began to cut and peel away the old bandages. There were times where Kotetsu flinched from the scissors and Barnaby paused, mumbling "Sorry," before continuing. It took about ten minutes to take all the bandages off and Barnaby finally saw what the shoulder injury looked like. The bruise was spread out from the right collar bone to Kotetsu's right shoulder and it was a terrifying purple-red color. Barnaby gently ran a finger under the bruise. Anger was boiling inside him; he was glad that the person who did this was caught, but it did not stop him from wanting to beat him to a pulp. Kotetsu must have noticed his expression because he gently grabbed hold of Barnaby's hand before moving it away.

"It's really not that bad as it looks. I can still move it... But only just a little."

He raised it up about half-way before flinching from the pain. Barnaby was still shocked at the sight of the bruise, but shook it away. He opened the shower door and pushed his partner in.

"Try to get everything with your good arm before I help you with the rest of the wash."

He turned his back to the shower and began to wait. He figured the only things Kotetsu would not be able to get were his back and hair. And Barnaby was right because within a few minutes there was a knock on the glass. Once he took off his glasses and placed it on the counter, the world because extremely blurry thanks to his extreme near-sightedness. It was so bad that he had to feel his way to the door before getting in. Kotetsu helped him into the shower and handed over the sponge. Sniffing the air, Barnaby could definitely smell the sandalwood soap Kotetsu was using. He needed to remember to ask what the brand was later.

"Did you sponge over the cuts?"

"Yeah, but it hurt like hell."

Barnaby was just making sure since Kotetsu did use foot cream on them. Taking a hold of his partner's good shoulder, Barnaby began to scrub Kotetsu's back in a firm circular motion along the hard line of pure muscle. He pushed harder when Kotetsu groaned, causing Barnaby to stop. He hoped that he was not hurting him, but his partner just said,

"Keep going... It's been a while since I've gotten my back scrubbed like that and it feels really good."

Encouraged, Barnaby kept going but he knew what his partner meant by that. Tomoe, his wife, probably used to do that before she died. Doing that probably lead from one thing to another, a simple motion into something more... Her hand moving from the back to the front of her husband... Barnaby stopped scrubbing Kotetsu back for a moment. He could not believe why he was thinking about that. Why was he thinking of sex? Especially of Kotetsu and his wife doing it in the shower? It seemed going without sex for almost a year was now taking its toll on his mind. Shaking his head, he went back to washing his partner. Once he finished, Kotetsu rinsed before handing over the shampoo. Squeezing a handful, Barnaby placed the bottle next to his feet and began scrubbing the shampoo his partner's hair. Not surprising, Kotetsu's hair was thick but it was not hard to get the shampoo in. Using a little nail, Barnaby because to give a soothing scratch shampoo massage, causing Kotetsu to lean back against his chest. It was really funny to see Kotetsu like this because he had his eyes half-closed, like a big cat enjoying a scratch. Barnaby couldn't help but smile.

"You're more like a kitten than a tiger, you know."

Kotetsu gave a grunt, turned his head to look up, and said, "Shut up and keep going. It feels nice," and closed his eyes. Barnaby figured he was going to say that so he began to wrap up the shampooing before he had an idea. He took some of Kotetsu's hair and tried to make it stand out like a Mohawk. Barnaby tried his best to not laugh while he was doing this. Kotetsu looked to funny with the soapy hair sticking out everywhere. He could not help but burst out laughing. Kotetsu, confused, turned to see what happened. All he saw was his partner laughing and he had no idea what was going on until he felt his head. Then he knew and smacked Barnaby in the arm.

"What do you think you're doing? You're supposed to take care of me, not make fun of me."

Barnaby just kept laughing and Kotetsu took the shower hose to spray his partner. All he did was laugh and tried to get it out of his hand when he slipped on the shampoo suds, grabbing Kotetsu down as he fell. There was a solid thud on the ceramic tile and a groan. Barnaby had slipped onto his back and banged his head on the floor. When the glowing stars stopped spinning in front of his eyes, he noticed there was weight on his hips. Looking up, he saw a blurry outline of Kotetsu straddling his waist. His partner was shaking his shoulder, asking if he was alright. Kotetsu had heard the loud thud and knew that Barnaby had his head on the floor.

In this sort of situation, Barnaby's first thought was that he was glad Kotetsu did not get hurt. He did not hear him complain about pain, which was a good thing. But Barnaby realized that Kotetsu was sitting right on top of **him**. The sensation felt a little weird, but at the same time it was not a bad feeling; a familiar feeling. Then he remembered that Kotetsu was **naked** on top of him and the familiar feeling was getting worse, especially when Kotetsu was slightly moving his hips as he was shaking Barnaby. He blushed as he thought too much into it, and a rush of heat went down below. He pushed Kotetsu off him, getting up quickly and pulled his partner up before saying,

"I'm alright... Just rinse the shampoo and get out to dry yourself. I'll be out after I take my shower."

Kotetsu stared at him before he shrugged and did was he was told and closed the shower door. Barnaby listened to hear Kotetsu grab some towels and leave the bathroom before he leaned against the tiled wall. That had been a close call. Barnaby just looked up at the running water and sighed He could not believe he got an erection from Kotetsu straddling him. The only reason he thought that could have happened was because he had no sex for about a year. That just **had** to be it. Closing his eyes, he was now more aware of his erection, pulsing and straining against the swim shorts. It was painful and knew it needed to be dealt with. He did not want to use cold water on himself, so there was only one other option to get rid of it. Pulling his shorts off, he freed his cock from the tight fabric and reached down with a firm grip. The feeling of squeeze his hard, hot flesh caused him to groan and buck his hips. It definitely was a long time since he had done this. Covering his mouth with his free hand, he closed his eyes and began to move his hand. Up and down the length, Barnaby could feel himself grow harder as he stroked himself. He tried to visualize previous sexual encounters with women he had in the past, but all he could think about was Kotetsu. Seeing him naked during the shower had not been too bad, but the feeling of Kotetsu on top of him made it much harder to think about anything else.

Taking a little soap into his hand, Barnaby began to pant and moan as he stroked harder, feeling the slippery friction heighten his pleasure. All he could picture in his mind was Kotetsu underneath him, feeling Barnaby go in an out of him. Feeling the pressure building, his legs were beginning to shake. Now he was thinking of his partner writhing with pleasure as he went in and out of his body. That was all it took and with one final squeeze, Barnaby gave a gasp and shuddered, feeling his cock pulse and spill his release into his hand. Little white dots of light were floating around in his vision again , but this time from the pleasurable release. He leaned his head back, taking deep breaths before the shaking stopped. Then he got off the wall and walked closer to the shower and began washing his body clean. It still bothered Barnaby that his partner had made such a reaction in him. Kotetsu was the closest he had to a best friend. Hell, Kotetsu **was **his only best friend and he could not believe that he was thinking of him this way. But he remembered back to that day at Nathan's, remembering how he was interested in trying out sex with another man. And it seemed that the only person he could see himself doing it with... Would be only Kotetsu... Flipping back his wet hair, Barnaby gave a sigh. His partner would never think of such a thing nor do it. Kotetsu had been a married man to a beautiful wife and had a wonderful daughter; there was no way he'd be interested in him that way...

Turning off the water, Barnaby felt for the shower door and went out to grab towels. After wrapping one around his waist and hair, he put on his glasses and began to dry himself. Once that was done, he put on new change of clothes before walking out of the bathroom. In the bedroom, Kotetsu had already changed into some clothes; a loose shirt and his usual pants and was also drying his hair. Reaching down, Barnaby grabbed the sweat jacket and held it before his partner.

"Put this on. Better to be warmer just in case."

Kotetsu just nodded and put it on before Barnaby grabbed the hair dryer, plugged it in, and began to dry his partner's hair. Despite being thick, Kotetsu's hair dried very quickly and after a few minutes it was Barnaby's turn. Luckily his hair naturally curled at the ends so he did not have to do much but just comb it out as it dried. Once everything was done, the both of them headed down to the kitchen where Barnaby reheated the porridge and made some toast and coffee for himself and his partner. As the two ate, Barnaby apologized about the fall since it was his fault.

"Hey, sorry about what happened in the shower, I didn't hurt you, did I?"

Kotetsu shook his head as he took a piece of toast.

"No, it's fine. You kept me from getting hurt. Are **you** alright? I heard your head thud."

Barnaby just nodded as he reached for his cup and Kotetsu continued on.

"Good, we don't want to have two people hurt now, do we? Also... Why did you pull me up so quickly? That hurt a little and I was trying to see if you were alright."

Barnaby choked on his coffee, receive a curious look from his partner. He hoped Kotetsu did not notice anything where they were in the shower together.

"I just wanted to get you out of the shower faster so that I could finish and then we'd get breakfast earlier."

He took a bite of his toast, praying that Kotetsu believed him but his partner just shrugged and went back to breakfast. After they were done, Barnaby cleaned up the kitchen as Kotetsu was going over the packet that Dr. Hath left him to read for arm exercises. Most of the exercises were pretty simple and were very similar to arm exercises he would do in the gym. Looking around, Kotetsu searched for the dumb bells he had at home. Normally, Kotetsu would be able to lift more than 150 lbs when he was at the gym. The ones he had here were about 50 lbs. On days he did not feel like doing a tough workout, he would use these for a light one. Taking one weight in his good arm, Kotetsu was able to curl it no problem. With his bad arm, he could only lift the weight a quarter of the way without his shoulder burning in pain. Even just holding the weight was painful. Kotetsu let it drop with a soft thud and cursed loudly. Barnaby heard the thud and looked out the kitchen door to see Kotetsu look so frustrated and saw a weight on the floor.

"What happened?"

Kotetsu lifted the weight again in his bad arm.

"I'm trying to do these exercise Dr. Hath told me to do... But I can't even hold this thing for more than a few seconds."

"Wait a minute."

Barnaby went back in to put away the bread and the cleaned containers before drying his hands and going to the living room. He took the papers that Kotetsu had read and looked over them before grabbing the heavy weight from his partner's hand. The papers had stated that for this sort of physical therapy, a light weight like about 5-10 lbs were the best to start with. Looking around, there was not anything that light in the living room so Barnaby emptied his clothes bag and went into the kitchen to fill it with at least 10 medium sized water bottles. Going back, he handed them to his partner.

"The papers said to start with at least 5 lbs. Did you not read? That's why it hurt so much."

Barnaby then just sat next to him and placed his hand on Kotetsu's and began to help him lift the bag. The sudden movement hurt but it was much easier for Kotetsu to move his arm. Barnaby helped Kotetsu do a few more repetitions before making him do about 4 more exercises before they finished their session. The arm was sore, but Kotetsu felt strangely content about being able to get through the workout. He closed his eyes, resting for a bit. Suddenly he felt something cold and smooth against the side of his face. He gave a small gasp and looked up to see Barnaby holding a water bottle and a pill out of him. He took both and popped the pill and water before saying,

"For a little brat, you're not too bad with the nursing stuff. When did you learn to do that?"

Barnaby took a seat on the sofa before he thought about it. It was probably when he was with Ruki in high school. He remembered that she was an assistant to the school nurse when sports hit their competition seasons. Every time there were injuries, Ruki was there. One time Barnaby had to come along with her because Maverick could not pick him up at school. So she took him to infirmary and had him help her take care and prep the athletes for warm-ups and also helps with injuries. Barnaby had admired her for working under such pressure while there was a line of athletes forming at the school infirmary door.

"Ruki taught me how to take care of other students in high school... Actually, she taught me a lot of things."

Kotetsu saw that Barnaby had that look on him again. That look of admiration and happiness that he did not show very often though he did smile more. He still did not understand why it bothered him, but it did. Kotetsu knew it was greedy for him to want that look to be only for himself, but he could not help it... Since they were like best friends, it was almost bound to happen. So he laid down on the sofa and then just plopped his head onto Barnaby's lap. Barnaby raised his eyebrow at this sudden movement, but he did not mind it at all. Kotetsu was just this type of person. It was better to go with it than to fight it. Kotetsu then looked up at Barnaby.

"Did** I **teach you anything from the time we were partnered until now?"

Barnaby swore he heard a hint of jealousy in the question. Kotetsu was not jealous of Ruki, was he? He just chuckled as he placed a hand on his partner's head, running his fingers through that thick hair of his. Kotetsu apparently liked that because he gave a grunt before looking away and closing eyes. Back to his question, Kotetsu did teach him a lot. Like on their first mission, he had only seen the young boy as the criminal, not the victim until he had heard Kotetsu's real life story as a Next. Also he had learned that some things could not be done alone and that letting others into his life meant more to him than anything. Like when Kotetsu helped him with Ouroboros, Barnaby could have not gotten as far as he was today without his partner's help. There were other things he learned from Kotetsu but they were just simple things. Bending over, he spoke closely to Kotetsu's ear saying,

"You taught me many things, **Little Tiger **and you also saved me many times. Without you, I probably wouldn't be here," before he leaned up on the sofa. Barnaby's breath tickled Kotetsu's ear, causing him to squirm a little. The warm air felt both pleasant and weird at the same time again his ear. He felt really happy from hearing his partner say that and was about to say something when he heard the nickname the doctor gave him. Kotetsu sat up, and gave Barnaby a soft punch in the arm.

"You can't call me that!"

Barnaby could not help but laugh. It was fun to see Kotetsu get riled up like this.

"What, I can't call you Little Tiger now?"

Barnaby dodged another hit before Kotetsu gaving up and reached over for the remote before he laid back down on his partner's lap. He turned on the television and flipped through some channels before saying,

"Maybe... Once in a while..."

Barnaby just smiled as he went back to petting his partner's head as they watched television.

Time passed as Barnaby tried to keep busy after their television session. He was helping Kotetsu around the house by cleaning and doing laundry, like washing the sweaty blanket and clothes, while Kotetsu was sleeping most of the day and once in a while read a magazine or walked around the house to exercise. Lunch had been simple, where Kotetsu had more porridge and a little bit of the instant noodle Barnaby could not finish. Later on in the day, the only time Barnaby left the apartment was to buy groceries. Kotetsu gave a list of what he wanted and also some notes to tell Barnaby how to look for fresh produce. It was not very hard to get the groceries, especially with all the women and girls who were eager to "help" him when he asked. He had to control the urge to run when some of his fans were persistent in following him to his car. Luckily he knew the area like the back of his hand, so Barnaby was able to elude his fans and get back home in a reasonable amount of time. Kotetsu could not help but laugh when he saw how winded Barnaby was when he got back. _"The poor boy, his looks are his blessing and _curse," thought Kotetsu.

Dinner was pretty simple, especially since Barnaby was the one who was cooking. But with Kotetsu's watchful eye and guidance, the food came out pretty decent and the dishes tasted pretty good. Once dinner was finished, Kotetsu went to talk to Kaede while Barnaby was washing the dishes. From the kitchen he heard Kaede yelling at her father for getting sick and also for making Barnaby have to take care of him. Looking out into the living room, Kotetsu was cowering from his daughter's wrath, but nonetheless he was smiling. Barnaby could not help but laugh and come to the rescue, putting his charm to make Kaede calm down and reassure her that this was not a problem for him. Kotetsu's mother came into the conversation a little later so all four of them talked for about an hour or so before calling it a night. When the television screen turned off, Kotetsu leaned back on the sofa, chuckling.

"Mah...That Kaede... She's so mean to me and she adores you so much more than me."

Barnaby shook his head in disagreement.

"Don't say that old man. You're her father; she loves you more than me. Well, she should at least."

To Barnaby, Kaede seemed to act like just because she was very worried about her father even though she did not show it that way. Walking behind the sofa, he rested his elbows on the top cushion and placed his chin in his hands, looking down at his partner.

"Besides, she's probably jealous about not having some quality time with me like you're having now. Don't think too much of it."

Kotetsu really did not think of that. Barnaby was Kaede's favorite hero and he was spending time taking care of him. Also he was right, the more he thought about it, but more it just made his head hurt. Getting up, Kotetsu stretched and yawned before picking up the blanket on the opposite sofa chair. Looking at the clock, it was about 10 PM. Time for bed, but before he could unfold the blanket, Barnaby placed his hand on Kotetsu's shoulder. He motioned upstairs saying,

"You're sleeping upstairs with me today. I want to keep a watch on you just in case you have your nightmare again."

Kotetsu did not want to bother Barnaby any further by saying,

"It's fine... My fever's going done, right? So it shouldn't be a problem."

"Don't argue with me. You're going up. Now."

Without another word, Barnaby scooped his partner into his arms, causing Kotetsu to give a little "Oi!" before going upstairs. Kotetsu was squirming when Barnaby said,

"Either I tie you up or you go peacefully. It's your choice.

Kotetsu knew he could not win because the grip his partner had on him would not budge so he just gave up and pouted. Once Barnaby plopped Kotetsu on the bed he said,

"Change and get ready for bed," before he went back down to grab some water, another fever pill, ointment, bandages, the blanket, his pajamas, and closed the lights before going back up to the room. He handed the water and the pill to his partner, heading to the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. When he came back, Barnaby went ahead to gently apply the healing ointment and bandages before he grabbed some pillows and the blanket.

"Where are you going?" asked Kotetsu.

Barnaby just pointed on the floor.

"I'll take the floor while you take the bed."

There was a pause between the two.

"...There's room on the bed you know... And... Since you're here... Might as well use that empty bed space," said Kotetsu as he patted the empty side of the bed. Barnaby just stared for a moment. He was not sure if being in the same bed as Kotetsu was a good idea. What happened in the bathroom that morning was a good example of why he should not get in there. Also he did not trust himself when he would be that close to his partner.

"Are you sure? I mean... That used to be your wife's spot... And I don't want to... You know..."

Looking at Kotetsu, his partner was looking back at him. He was really serious about this.

"Yes... But... She's no longer here to share it with... And also, I'm not going to let my caretaker sleep on a cold floor while I'm warm in bed. That wouldn't be fair and not to mention downright ungrateful for me to let you do that."

It did not seem like he had a choice, so he put the pillows back and went to the left side of the bed and got in. Kotetsu gave a nod before closing the lamp on his side and laying down.

"Goodnight," he said.

"Goodnight," replied Barnaby.

Barnaby checked his phone for messages, deciding that he'd answer them in the morning before taking off his glasses and turning off the lamp and laid down. Both were pretty quiet as they tried to fall sleep. Barnaby could not help but be a little nervous, so he knew he probably was not going to fall asleep any time soon. Time passed by as he listened to his partner's breathing. From the way he was breathing, Kotetsu soon fell asleep. Just hearing him breath in and out slowly, it was very therapeutic to listen to and soon Barnaby began to fall asleep as well.

The next morning, Kotetsu woke up to the sunlight peaking through the blinds. Looking at the clock, it was about 7:30 AM Friday morning. Surprisingly, he felt a lot better even though his right shoulder still hurt. Thinking back to the night, he did not recall having any nightmares during his sleep. He tried to sit up when he felt something around his waist. Looking over, he saw that Barnaby had his arms wrapped loosely around his waist. He must have moved into this position some time during the night. Placing his hand on the arm, the loose embrace was warm and strangely Kotetsu was not bothered by it. This felt very natural to him for some odd reason, like he had experienced it before. Then he remembered that Tomoe used to hug him like this while he was sleeping. No wonder if felt so familiar. Looking down, he could not help but smile when he saw Barnaby's hair. It was sticking out all over the place. Reaching over, he tried to gently comb out the tangles when Barnaby groaned a bit. Kotetsu paused, not sure if he was going to wake up but he did not. Barnaby must have been tired from taking care of him and maybe because of him, Kotetsu thought maybe having Barnaby here kept the nightmares away. Looking back at the clock, it was still considered early, so Kotetsu pulled the covered over him and Barnaby and went back to sleep. With what happened in the last few days, they both needed the extra sleep.


End file.
